Peter Jukes is named best UK reporter on Twitter and social media - full Press Gazette top 50 list

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Press Gazette has named Peter Jukes as the best reporter on Twitter – and social media overall.

He came top after a poll of Press Gazette readers and input from an expert panel of judges.

Press Gazette arrived at its list by inviting readers to name their favourite and top five reporters on social media.

Extra weight was given to top five selections of the expert judges.

Jukes is a former dramatist who began blogging about US politics during the Obama election campaign in 2008 and since 2011 has also closely covered the hacking scandal.

After being initially commissioned to write one piece a week about the trial for the Daily Beast he appealed for crowdfunding via Indiegogo to cover the whole trial via Twitter.

He raised more than £20,000 in donations and has covered every day of the trial since it began on 28 October last year – writing more than 200,000 words. He is to see it through to its expected conclusion in May.

Paul Bradshaw: Founder of the Online Journalism Blog and head of the MA in online journalism at Birmingham University

Dominic Ponsford: Editor of Press Gazette.

Press Gazette editor Dominic Ponsford said: “Our list wasn’t based on the number of followers journalists had, but on who – in the opinion of the judges and our readers – was the best reporter on Twitter and social media.

“So we were looking for journalists who embrace social media technology to use it as a medium in its own right to communicate the news.

“Peter Jukes’ coverage of the hacking trial made him a worthy winner. His prodigious coverage has been rigorous and fair and it has been in its own way historic.

“Jukes has found a loyal audience are willing to pay him well to read coverage which he is giving away for free. He has stumbled across a viable model for free digital journalism which performs a public service and ensures that justice is seen to be done.”

Press Gazette has named the top 10 choices in hierarchical order and then provides the rest of the top-50 arranged alphabetically.

Ponsford added: “We could have done a hierarchical top 50 but that felt a bit too arbitrary. These are 50 reporters who use social media well and are well worth following.”

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Peter Jukes – @peterjukes – Author and journalist who has been live-tweeting from the hacking trial